Worldandnation: Crime is the same since attacks

Crime is the same since attacks

©Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Police departments nationwide braced this week to see if crime would spike in the uncertainty following the terrorist attacks or if the pall that brought much of the country to a halt would also stop lawbreakers.

So far, many departments say, crime levels have mostly held steady, though Tuesday's attacks have brought some cities an increase in bomb threats and threats against Arab-Americans.

"The overall numbers showed no spikes," New York Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik told reporters. "I don't want to say we've seen a drop. It's nothing remarkable."

Crime sometimes falls during a crisis, said John Kilburn, an assistant professor of criminology and sociology at Eastern Connecticut State University. That was the case during World War II, he said.

"Our aggressions are no longer on our neighbors, our partners or the guy next to us at the bar," Kilburn said.

With communications snarled and many officers working downtown in the search and recovery effort, it was too early to say for certain whether crime was up or down, New York police said.

Police said Saturday they have had reports of six murders and one assault since Tuesday.

In other cities, some departments were receiving more calls but not suffering more crime.

"A lot of people are just a little on edge so they call when they see anything remotely suspicious, which is what we want," said Seattle police spokesman Scott Moss. He said officers had seen a handful of incidents in which people threatened Arab-Americans, but no rise in crime overall.